This is what happens to the masterpieces I lovingly etch into the break room whiteboard. I work with a bunch of savages, I tell you!

JAH: Giving the 36 one more chance not to fail me…
NCR: Is that a group of vengeful Ronin?
JAH: Not really. They’re more disappointed than vengeful. Which is why they sometimes fail me. I have no time for weeping willows. You gotta own your rage.

NCR’s comment made me laugh, and I had some time tonight to draw something easy, so here we are. Don’t bother counting, though. The other 26 are right behind you.

Of course, the 36 is really a bus line in SF… The one that goes through our neighborhood, in theory. It’s not very reliable, so usually I just take the 1-mile calf-busting hike downhill to Forest Hill station when I’m in the mood for public transit. But on this day, it showed up on time for the first day ever. Of course, the next day it skipped the route twice in a row. I think the Ronin would be more trustworthy.

Music: Heartbeat (reprise) from the Hula Girls Soundtrack by Jake Shimabukuro

Edited with iMovie 2008

Anybody who worked for Freestyle Interactive during its first few years will know all about the “munkies.”  While they eventually would outnumber the humans 4-1, in the beginning there was only one.  The following strip is the original “Ryan’s Plush Monkey” comics I did in late 1999:

Two things come to mind in the nostalgia category: First, the monkey (actually from the defunct Puffkins plush line) did look a lot like a Furby, and we should know because Tiger Electronics, the ones responsible for those freaky babbling little mogwais, was one of Freestyle’s first clients.  The second thing that comes to mind is how at a startup, and I think particularly during the dot-com boom, anybody who could tell a CAT-5 cable from a shoelace was drafted into doing IT work for the office.

Later, Robo-Munky emerged.  This is an illustration of a costume that Ryan built for the Purple Monkey out of cardboard and parts of a CRT monitor stand:

Reading old Teen Titans trades (“Judas Contract” and “Who Is Donna Troy?”) made me want to draw some Perez-style rubble, so here you have it. I think it turned out well, but I got some details on the monkeys wrong (they’re based on real plush toys belonging so some former co-workers of mine).

It’s been a while since I’ve managed to sqeeze in any drawing time, but this Chirstmas, I took some time to put together this collage of my girlfriend’s dog, “Elvis”. It’s a total cheat of course, since I had the photos right in the Photoshop document for tracing and color sampling. Basically, it’s a more refined version of the technique I used to draw my old cat “Sidney” way back when. It was still time-consuming, but I’m happy with the results.

Had a few more episodes of bad TV to plow through tonight, resulting in this friendly little guy. From Shoujo to some kinda freaky Craig McCracken, Powerpuff Girls ripoff thingy. I think Dubyah’s speech is getting to me. Let’s blow some stuff up, starting with fuzzy slippers, and pixie sticks. Then we’ll engage in a pre-emptive strike to put a stop to tea parties and E-Z Bake ovens before they are used against us. No, I have no idea what I’m talking about.

I was apparently feeling a Shoujo vibe with this one, even though I haven’t read any manga in years. I have no self control when I sit down to draw. I don’t know what I’m doing here!

The poor WACOM has been gathering dust for so long, but I just had to veg out tonight with a pencil and some paper in front of dumb TV. It’s been so long, I bet nobody will see this, but that’s fine. Some day archeologists will uncover this site and marvel at the unrecognized genius of the magnificent — GOLABUTRON!

Since this is a forum for bad art, here’s a robot from my meeting notebook. I started at the feet and sort of ran out of ceiling space on the notepad as I worked my way up, hence the caption. I think the end result would make Sir Mix-A-lot proud. The dude on the left was left over from a previous meeting, and on all counts I don’t know what I was thinking.

Anyway, I swear I can do this and pay perfect attention to the discussion simultaneously!